In the state’s Democrat-controlled House, Democrats used their narrow majority to censure Rep. Libby after the lawmaker refused to delete a Facebook post. The post defended female-only sports and criticized a transgender female athlete, a male. The male athlete, who competes in pole vaulting, was competing with the boys last year but now holds a state title in the girls’ Class B division.
Democrats said the reason for the censure was because Libby’s Facebook post includes a photo of the male athlete. Since the athlete is a minor, her opponents argued, the Facebook post amounts cruel and unfair bullying of an underage child by a state lawmaker.
Anybody who has ever read a newspaper has seen photos of athletes in the sports section, however, including the Portland Press Herald newspaper. The Maine newspaper celebrated a history-making transgender runner in a 2023 story.
Even worse for Libby’s critics, LGBT sports website Outsports.com has thousands of photos of athletes from the rainbow alphabet, including a “trans” basketball player and “trans nonbinary” track star.
Rep. Libby’s Facebook post, published by The College Fix for its own story, appears to show the male athlete holding up a “State Champs” sign with a message congratulating “Katie” for winning first place.
“Meet John, who now goes by Katie,” Libby wrote, referring to John Rydzewski’s legal name before he began competing as a girl this season.
Rydzeski’s pole vault, 10 feet and 6 inches, was a whopping six inches higher than his female competitors to win him the state title, the Fix reported.
None of that seemed to matter to Democrats in the state legislature, however, or to some Republicans who also said their colleague had gone too far.
“I think my colleague’s actions were cruel, callous and reprehensible,” Rep. David Boyer told the media.
The censure vote passed 75-73 with all Democrats voting for it but all Republicans, including some like Rep. Boyer, voting against the censure because they said it, too, went too far.
“I have concerns about regulating members’ conduct on social media,” he said.
Following the legislature’s ethics rules, Rep. Libby was given an opportunity to apologize on the floor after the censure vote but she flatly refused to do so. In a defiant speech, the GOP lawmaker attempted to discuss the issue of free speech but was repeatedly interrupted by Democrats for refusing to focus on the issue of the Facebook post.
“The chair will remind the member to keep the comments to the order at hand,” House Speaker Ryan Fecteau warned her.
“The ‘order at hand’ is to silence me, to censure me,” she replied, “and my comments are regarding silencing."
Days later, interviewed on the Washington Watch program, Libby said the Maine legislature has "silenced" female athletes in the state by punishing her.
"And this has silenced my constituents, all 9,000 of them that elected me to represent them," she added.
